A Beautiful Cruel World
by Cuda77
Summary: During the Battle Of Beacon, Weiss goes off by herself to try and find Yang. When she finds her, the two huntresses find something worth surviving for. Post-Chapter 10 of Volume 3


**Author's Note:** This was meant to be my contribution to The Monty Oum Project but I hit a mental wall and just couldn't manage to finish it by the 1st. But I still wanted to get this out before Chapter 11 so canon can't ruin it and leave me scrambling to try and find a new place to fit it in.

 **RWBY and all the characters within are the intellectual property of Rooster Teeth Productions, Miles Luna, Kerry Shawc** **ross, Gray Haddock and the late Monty Oum. I am not being compensated in any way for this story and wrote it merely for entertainment purposes.**

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"YANG?! Yang where are you?!"

Weiss Schnee was frantically running through the hallways of Beacon Academy searching for her teammate, Yang Xiao Long. The school was still under siege by the creatures of Grimm and the terrorists from the White Fang. She had heard Yang's conversation earlier with Blake but she left the call abruptly and Weiss swore she heard an ursa roaring. Now Weiss was desperate to find her to make sure she ywas safe.

She rounded a corner to find a pack of Beowolves standing in a corner with something trapped in front of them. Weiss cast a glyph for herself and charged towards the pack while chambering her rapier Myrtenaster to its ice dust setting. She struck the nearest Grimm in the back, causing it and its brethren to be encased in ice, which then exploded into snowflakes. As she surveyed the area for any more Grimm, Weiss heard a familiar bark and felt a pawing at her thighs. She looked down to find Yang's pet corgi, Zwei, smiling happily up at her.

"Zwei! Oh, I'm so happy to see you," Weiss cooed affectionately as she kneeled down to scratch the dog behind his ears. "Do you know where Yang is at boy?" Zwei yipped in confirmation. "Could you take me to her, please? I'm worried she's in trouble."

Zwei barked again and bounded down the hallway. But just as Weiss was about to follow him, one of the walls exploded out and Yang came flying through the debris. Zwei looked back to Weiss and barked at her, satisfied with completing his job. Weiss dashed over to Yang's crumpled body and cleared away some of the wreckage from the wall she was blown through.

"Yang, are you okay?!"

"Ow, yeah, I'm fine," Yang groaned out in pain. "One of those glowing Grimm found me and it blew me up."

"Well of course it did, you dunce," Weiss said in exasperation. "We literally just covered them in Professor Port's class last week. Weren't you paying attention?"

"I guess not as closely as I should have been," coughed Yang from all the dust. " We should get out of here, though. There may be more around."

"Good idea. Can you stand?" Yang tried to get to her feet but she wobbled violently and collapsed back down. She shook her head in shame as Weiss sighed in frustration. "Very well, I'll just have to carry you then."

"How will you do that?" Yang asked incredulously. Without answering, Weiss cast a series of glyphs that attached themselves to Yang's limbs and elevated her into the air.

"Just stay still, you'll be fine like this," Weiss said reassuringly as she noticed the nervous look on Yang's face. Weiss then turned to face Zwei again and told him, "Zwei, lead us back to the room please? We'll follow behind you. Try to avoid running into any more Grimm for us, okay? If you find any, come back and get us but don't bark to alert it that you're there. Sound good?"

The dog barked and set off through the destroyed corridor. Weiss directed the levitating Yang in front of her while Weiss took up the rear. It took a few slow, meticulous minutes of sneaking but the three managed to make it back to the Team RWBY dorms safely without encountering any more Grimm or White Fang members. Weiss let Zwei inside and then guided Yang down onto Weiss's bed before releasing the glyphs holding her. She then stepped outside to cast a series of glyphs around the door and hallway before stepping back into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Weiss, why did you bring us here? There's still a battle going on out there. We should be out there helping everyone, not hiding in our room," said an annoyed Yang.

"I know you want to help, but you're in no condition to fight right now Yang," Weiss replied briskly, clearly having no stomach for arguing right now. "I'll get you healed up as best as I can but for now, laying low is our best option. I've booby trapped the hallway to alert us of anything coming our way. So we should be safe for the time being; just lie down and rest."

"But what about Ruby? And Blake? And all our friends?"

"Hush, you brute. Rest."

Yang grumbled but relented and lied down on Weiss's bed, turning to face the wall. Weiss fed Zwei a treat for being so helpful before she slowly climbed into her bed next to Yang and draped her arm across the blonde's torso. Yang stiffened in surprise but after a moment relaxed into Weiss's embrace. Outside the window, the sounds of the battle could still be faintly heard.

"I'm scared, Yang," Weiss whimpered.

"I am too, Weiss." The two sat in silence for several minutes, listening to the war raging outside. Finally, Yang rolled onto her back and propped herself up against Weiss's pillows. Weiss also rose and swung her legs off the bed so she was seated on the edge. "Hey Weiss?" Yang asked softly.

"Yes?"

"I'm sure that we're going to make it out of this okay. But just in case we don't, I wanted to thank you for earlier. For believing me about Mercury."

"Of course, think nothing of it. That's what friends are for."

"Yeah, but it still means a lot to me," Yang replied seriously. "I know there's a lot of people really mad at me for what I did. So I don't have too many people I can turn to right now. But it is such a comfort to me that you're one of them that I can still trust to have my back."

"Anytime, Yang," Weiss said with a warm smile. "I know who you are. You're the most honest, caring person I know. Attacking someone like that is not something you would ever do. So if you say you saw him attack you first, I'm sure that he did or you got hypnotized or something. No matter what, I'll be on your side about this."

"That means everything. I don't know if I could ever repay you for that, Weiss."

"Well, there is one thing I'd like to know and if you answer me honestly, it would mean a lot to me as well. Would that be okay?"

"Um, okay, sure," Yang said a little nervously, not sure where Weiss was going with this. "What's on your mind?"

"Why were you going to the docks in the first place?"

Yang's face fell as closed her eyes and sighed heavily, "I was trying to leave. Qrow was here earlier and he mentioned that he had an idea where my mom was. I was going to go try and find her."

"What?" Weiss whimpered with her lip trembling. "You…you were just going to leave? Without even a goodbye or explanation or anything?"

"Well, yeah, it sounds worse when you put it like that. But I have to do this alone. The last time I dragged somebody else into this thing with my mom, it almost got Ruby killed. I refuse to make the same mistake twice. No matter what happens, nobody else's blood will be on my hands because of me."

It was too much for Weiss to handle and she burst into tears. She then threw herself onto Yang, drawing a hiss of pain from the brawler. But Weiss didn't appear to register Yang's discomfort as she hugged Yang as close against her as she could. "You can't," cried Weiss raggedly through her tears. "You can't leave Yang. You just can't. You can't go."

"Whoa, Weiss, that hurts. Ease up a little," groaned Yang as she tried to wriggle out of Weiss's clutches.

"I can't…I can't," Weiss gasped frantically, "I can't breathe Yang."

"Oh, dust, okay, you're having a panic attack Weiss. Here," Yang finally forced Weiss's arms from around her and sat up. She then gently hugged Weiss's head to her chest and held her. "Listen to my heart and focus on my breathing. Can you do that for me?"

Weiss gave a small whimper and nod in confirmation. She wrapped her arms back around Yang's torso and held onto her much less violently than before. Yang closed her eyes and focused on taking deep, full breaths as she gently ran her knuckles up and down Weiss's spine. Weiss continued silently weeping into Yang's shirt but her breathing became more regular. Finally after a few minutes of silence, Weiss finally sat back up and dabbed away the few tears left near her eyes.

"How are you doing? You feeling better?" Yang asked softly.

"Yes, thank you," replied Weiss as she reached for a tissue from the bedside table. She blew her nose loudly and that got a small giggle from Yang. Weiss shot her a quick glare and said icily, "Don't be so rude."

"Sorry, it just sounded funny. Er, do you still want to talk?"

"Of course I do." Weiss took one final deep breath to steady herself before she looked up at Yang. "Please Yang, reconsider leaving. I know how important finding your mother is to you but from the little I've heard about her, she doesn't sound like she's worth the effort. Take it from someone who's had to go through horrific parenting while growing up, you are better off without her. You are such an amazing young woman and you became it without her help. I know it's still a sore wound but the only way it's going to heal completely is if you leave it in the past."

"I appreciate it Weiss, but I have to know the truth. I have to know why she decided to leave me and Dad in the first place. I need closure for that. I mean if she didn't want me to begin with, why wasn't I just terminated before I was born? Why did she wait to leave us? Did something happen? I need these answers, Weiss."

"But what about Ruby? What about Blake? Or me? Are those answers really worth leaving us over? We're your team and we need you. Especially now that the world's going to hell. We need as much help as possible just to survive this."

"That just makes me need to know it even more Weiss," replied Yang with a hint of desperation in her voice. "This may be my last chance to do find her and get my peace. If I throw away my one shot to do this, it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life."

"What if you lose your life? Will it be worth it then?" Yang went silent and hung her head, not knowing how to answer. Weiss sighed as she reached out to remove Yang's glove from her hand and then took her bare hand with her own. Yang shot her a surprised look since a gesture like that was uncommon from the heiress. But Weiss didn't return it as she was too focused on their hands.

"Yang," began Weiss slowly as she delicately traced her thumb up and down Yang's forefinger, "please don't go. I just have a really bad feeling about this. No matter what happens, I don't see it ending well for you. And I…" Weiss's voice caught in her throat as Yang felt her hand go tense. Finally Weiss looked back up at Yang with a fresh pool of tears in both her eyes that caused them to glisten like sapphires. "I need you Yang. I can't do this without you." With that finally out in the open, Weiss hung her head in shame.

Yang asked her in confusion, "What do you mean you can't do this without me? You're Weiss Schnee. You're one of the smartest students here at Beacon. You trounce everyone on tests. And you're so good at coming up with plans on the battlefield. There's nothing you can't do."

"I appreciate your support Yang," Weiss sniffled, "but I'm only that way because of you."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"I will admit that yes, I do take a lot of pride in my studies. But when it comes to combat, I'm completely terrible unless you're there."

"What? I—" Weiss held up her free hand to silence Yang.

"Please, let me finish first. Growing up, my sister Winter was such a gifted student. There wasn't anything that was thrown at her that she didn't perfect. Every time she'd come home on holiday, I'd have to hear about how she finished at the top of her class on finals or how she won the Vytal Festival Tournament without letting her aura ever fall below 90. It was a lot to live up to. And I couldn't do it."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever wondered why I ended up here in Beacon instead of going to school in Atlas?"

"I, uh, I guess I figured it had something to do with your folks and wanting space from them."

"Yes, that is part of it. But it's not the whole story."

"Well, what happened?"

"I flunked the entrance exam into Atlas. Specifically in combat. And when Father found out, he was furious. Moreso than I'd ever seen him before. And in his fit of anger, I got this scar."

"Oh my god," Yang gasped in horror and covered her mouth in shock with her free hand. Weiss merely nodded grimly to confirm what she said.

"So, I applied for Beacon instead. Due to it not being as strict because of it not being a military academy, I was happily accepted. Plus now I can make my own legacy instead of constantly being in the shadow of my sister's one."

"But I'm still confused about something. What does that have to do with me? You said you can't do this without me."

"I'll tell you why." Weiss took a short pause to prepare herself for what she wanted to say before looking back up at Yang again. "As much as I've put into my combat training to try and be better, on my own I'm still just acceptable. But when you're fighting with me or coaching me, that all changes. When you're there, it all comes so much easier for me. Suddenly I know exactly what to do and how to do it to perfection. I can't explain it but when you're there, it really does feel like I can do anything."

Yang's mouth hung open in surprise. She tried to say something in reply but nothing was coming to her. Weiss lifted up Yang's arm and snuggled herself underneath it so her head was back over Yang's heart. "You are the single biggest inspiration in my life, Yang Xiao Long. There is not a day that goes by where I'm not trying to better myself because of you. When I got to this school, I was so determined to become the best by any means necessary. But then I got put on a team with you and I quickly realized that goal was just a dream. I realized there is no way I could measure up to you. Because you are without any shred of doubt or exaggeration the greatest person I have ever met in my life. Yes, I've got brains but I'd trade that all away to have your heart and your compassion and your overpowering drive to be a good person in a cruel world."

Weiss could hear just how hard Yang's heart was beating and felt her skin get very warm. She glanced up to sneak a peak at Yang and found her with her head bowed and face scrunched up as she tried not to start crying herself. Weiss craned her head up so she was level with Yang's and gave her a chaste little kiss on the cheek. Yang's eyes flew open and she looked over to Weiss who was smiling at her, a small blush dusting her cheeks.

"Weiss?" Yang whispered. Her eyes asked the rest of the question that her voice failed to. Weiss nodded and closed her eyes. Yang slowly leaned in and brought her lips to the heiress's. Her hand reached up and held onto the back of Weiss's neck while Weiss's hand cradled her cheek. The two ghosted their lips together several times, each time only applying a feather's touch of pressure.

"Thank you," Yang gasped out finally as she rested her forehead against Weiss's. "That is the sweetest, most meaningful thing someone has ever told me."

"You deserve it," Weiss replied serenely, her body feeling like it was floating from how elated she was. "You've done so much to help my life and I'm just glad I could return the favor for once."

"I just wish I could do more to show you how grateful I am. Because I can't think of anything I could do that would mean as much."

"There is one thing I'd love from you Yang."

"Name it."

"Stay."

Yang stiffened and backed away from Weiss. She asked, "What?"

"Stay," repeated Weiss simply. "Stay here with me. With all of us. When all of this gets resolved and there's peace in Vale again, I promise we'll help you find your mother. But for now, please stay?"

Yang paused for a moment, weighing her options in her head. But she made her decision and kissed Weiss again with more gusto than their previous kiss. Weiss was taken aback by Yangs sudden zeal but the feeling of Yang's lips on hers quickly shut her brain off and she let the electricity from Yang's lips flow through her.

"Keep kissing me like this and you have a deal," Yang murmured against Weiss's lips.

"I can definitely do that," replied Weiss as a huge grin spread across her face. She gave Yang one final peck before she stretched out and snuggled up against Yang, draping an arm possessively around her. Yang gave Weiss a kiss on the top of her head before relaxing as well. In the distance, the sounds of combat continued on and both young huntresses knew they'd have to rejoin it soon. But for right now, nothing mattered except each other. And when they did head back to the fight, they both knew they'd have something worth fighting to live for. Getting to have more moments together like this one was worth more than anything like fame or glory or wealth. Having each other was all the reward they'd need.


End file.
